Before joining what once imagined itself the world’s greatest deliberative body, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) was a decorated naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut with four space shuttle missions to his credit. Now, like approximately 80% of his senatorial colleagues, Senator Kelly looks in the mirror in the morning and sees a future president. Before he takes the plunge, however, I hope Senator Kelly finds the political courage to match the physical courage that won him two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
Recently, Senator Kelly got 29 fellow senators to support his bill to repeal the federal tax credit scholarship program that was created in 2025 and will come into effect next year. A Wall Street Journal editorial quoted Senator Kelly’s claim that scholarships funded by this program will take “money out of public schools and giv[e] it to private ones.”
That is false. It was also a rather blatant pander to the teachers’ unions—arguably America’s most reactionary social force, but organizations whose ground game and financial help Kelly surely wants if he makes a run for the White House in the 2028 election cycle.
So, what does this new federal tax credit scholarship program actually do?
Details may be found on the website of the Invest in Education Foundation, but here’s the gist of the program:
If you owe federal income tax in the 2027 tax year, and if you donate that same year to a qualified non-profit scholarship-granting organization, you can reduce your federal income tax liability by the amount of the donation (for up to $1,700), while supporting an organization that helps children attend schools of their parents’ choice, including Catholic schools. This 100% tax credit, in other words, costs you nothing extra. You either pay Uncle Sam or you donate to a non-profit scholarship-granting organization and take the tax credit on your federal return (or reduce your tax withholding accordingly during the year).
Each state must “opt in” to the program, and if it does, its governor must provide the U.S. government an annual list of qualified scholarship-granting organizations in that state. The list will be made public so taxpayers can know where to direct their contributions, and organizations like the Invest in Education Foundation will also provide taxpayers with the necessary information. According to the legislation, students whose families earn up to 300% of the median family income will be eligible for these tax-credit-supported scholarships—which should help many families who now find Catholic elementary and secondary education a strain on the family exchequer.
While Catholic school enrollment has been dropping nationally (in part because of demographics but also because of affordability issues), states with programs similar to this federal initiative have seen an increase in Catholic school enrollment. According to the Invest in Education Foundation, Catholic school attendance in Florida is reported to have increased by 15% since 2015, while Arizona and North Carolina, two other states with strong school choice programs, have seen 8% increases. The federal program could, according to some estimates, double Catholic school enrollment over the next decade.
But that will take mobilization.
State Catholic Conferences must make it known to their governors that an opt-in is a basic matter of social justice, empowering parents to choose a Catholic education if they think that’s best for their children, including children with special needs. Pastors ought to talk up “opt-in” in their parishes, both in states that have not yet done so and in states that have, as pressures are being mounted to rescind state participation; parish bulletins are a good vehicle for getting the word out. Catholic parents and grandparents—indeed all U.S. Catholics who understand that the Catholic school system provides an essential public service, especially in the country’s most economically disadvantaged areas—should let their governor and state legislators know that they want their state to opt in.
And, following Mr. Dooley’s principle that “politics ain’t beanbag,” it would not be amiss to remind elected officials that failing to opt in will carry a political cost.
American elementary and secondary education can do—must do—much, much better in preparing a competent citizenry capable of making a democratic republic work in the twenty-first century. Scholarships funded by donations that also generate these federal income tax credits can help support essential educational reforms, as the excellence of Catholic schools can incentivize state-run schools to do better—but only if those Catholic schools survive and serve a broad population.
The school choice made possible by this federal tax credit scholarship program is a genuine social justice issue, and U.S. Catholics should bend every effort to ensure that every state opts in.
(Note: George Weigel’s column ‘The Catholic Difference’ is syndicated by the Denver Catholic, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Denver.)
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Yet this program won’t stop Catholic schools from overcharging families of attending students astronomical tuition fees. My parents sent us to Catholic school when we were children and it nearly bankrupted my family. My mom had to work 3 jobs to afford both tuition and bills. My dad worked so much and so hard he was barely ever home and turned to alcoholism to cope with the stress. Which in turn broke my family.
Essentially, what is happening here is the Church wants to have it’s cake and eat it too. They don’t care about children or producing well educated students. They certainly don’t care about the needs of children in public schools. They don’t even care about accomodations for their own students who have special needs. All they care about is the money money money and it shows.
Jennifer, some parishes have stewardship programs where families tithe a certain percentage of their income(7% maybe) , attend Sunday & Holy Day masses, & commit to volunteer hours. In exchange, they have free tuition for their children- no matter what the family’s income level may be.
A former pastor came to us from a parish like that & he attempted to get parents interested in beginning a stewardship program at our little parish school. The tithe wasn’t an issue. People were ok with that part. But they rebelled at the idea of being expected to attend Mass every single Sunday & Holy Day. Seriously. “Who does Father think he is, etc.”
It’s sad we’ve come to that point but many people today just see Catholic schools as a cheaper private school option. And sometimes that’s fairly close to the truth. Parochial schooling can teach a watered down faith.
Our parish had where they reviewed the household income and came up with a subsidy plan, including a signed document that they would attend mass. (Seems to be redundant since they already promised that at their child’s baptism). It worked pretty well but not perfectly.
Then the priest decided to go tuition model with continued parish support. Now very few altar servers and low family attendance on weekends. Parents tell the kids they don’t have to go on Sundays since the school mass is every Wedns. Of course, these parents are not attending weekends. Mass is missed for weekend sporting events.
The ultimate goal is to raise these children so they will attain heaven, through their membership in the one true church. I have no idea why the parish is supporting the school at the level they are – it’s like we’re being used to give their kids a better education without them or their parents being Catholic.
I’m so sorry to hear that, knowall.
The little parochial school my younger children attended closed several years ago due to a lack of students. The elementary school age population in the area kept shrinking and public charter schools were a further drive away but free.
When we attended in the 60s/70s your parents had to be using their church envelope and also pay some modest book fees. Of course, payroll is a hindrance now, financially.
Define “overcharging”. Relative to what? I’ll bet the cost is a lot less than Sidwell Friends-where all the DC ruling elite send their kids, while insisting public schools are golden calves that require our prostration, despite their long record of producing graduates who are illiterate and innumerate.
School buildings need to be built, heated, lighted and insured. No public building can be without water and sewage. There’s maintenance and repair costs, books, blackboards, paper and computers. Teachers, administrators and custodians all need salaries, insurance and benefits.
Schools of any kind are high fixed cost operations. Think of how many of those costs are flat as a pancake whether there’s a school enrollment of 500, 300 or 100.
We know Catholic school enrollment dropped, according to the National Catholic Education Association (from just under 2.3 million students in 2007-2008, to just over 1.8 million students in 2017-2018). I’d be willing to bet that has worsened, because the birth rate, already too low, took another nose dive for COVID, which was disrupted by the engineered FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Disruption). Maybe some have forgotten the ne plus ultra of the pseudo-hygienic panic-where people were told to wear masks during intimacy?
I’m not unbridled advocate of Catholic schools, because a lot of them are ineffective charades, where the Catholicity ends at the recruiting brochure-in the finest tradition of Notre Dame-but every dollar your parents earned was subject to a variety of taxes, and if they were home owners, they likely paid obnoxious property taxes, without so much as a discount for the seats you and your siblings did not occupy.
So my question is was the Catholic school overcharging your parents or the local school district and your local, state and federal government?
What a nasty, cynical and ignorant comment!
The pot calling the kettle black?
I highly doubt everything you just wrote. What school did they send you to?
Dear Jennifer, here is a short history Catholic education in my parish:
Parochial Schools and Immigrants
When my grandparents immigrated from Ireland in the early 1900s, the Church here in New Hampshire already had in place a parochial school system designed primarily for immigrants. However, these schools are now too expensive for today’s immigrants. The following is a brief history of how we accommodated immigrants in my diocese and how we should accommodate the new immigrants today:
The Parochial Schools of the diocese of Portland, Maine, which included the states of Maine and New Hampshire, began here in Manchester, N. H. during the 1850s. The site was St. Anne Church. The founders were Fr. William McDonald, pastor; Thomas Corcoran, teacher; and The Sisters of Mercy whose superior was Mother Frances Warde. The students were primarily Irish immigrants. Today, my parish, St. Anne Parish unified with St. Augustin Parish, serves the descendants of the Irish from St. Anne and the French Canadian from St. Augustin plus new immigrants including Hispanics, Vietnamese and Africans mostly from Sudan.
However, the Parochial Schools, now called Regional Catholic Schools, can no longer give first place to immigrants: they are too expensive. Can anything be done for today’s immigrants? Here is my suggestion:
A “preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in our Catholic Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the poor, the schools should be closed in those countries where the state provides for general education and the resources used for something else which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich fend for themselves. Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close here in the USA and the resources used for “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs which can be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first.
I agree 100%. I am all for parents being able to have some choice in the schools they send their kids to learn in. And if the public school does not serve their kids as well as a private one, and this choice credit is enough to help them move their kids, I am all for it.
Thanks for sharing this information, Mr. Weigel. I didn’t know about the program and will be keeping an eye out for it when we do our taxes next year. I’m still grateful for your book, “Witness to Hope” – it was the cornerstone that opened the door to my conversion.
Recently, Senator Kelly got 29 fellow senators to support his bill to repeal the federal tax credit scholarship program that was created in 2025 and will come into effect next year. A Wall Street Journal editorial quoted Senator Kelly’s claim that scholarships funded by this program will take “money out of public schools and giv[e] it to private ones.”
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I was reading in an AZ newspaper about its public schools losing students & even a few elementary schools are closing. It’s partly due to demographics-fewer children being born but also because of the other educational opportunities AZ parents are taking advantage of.
It never fails that Democrats end up reducing legitimate choices & parental rights while at the same time campaigning for the wrong kinds of choice.
I have forwarded this article to our chancery office. About broad notification, if not already done, might the USCCB notify to all dioceses?
I would agree that even $1,700/year is only a small fraction of one tuition, but at least it’s something.
We sent all three of our children to 12 years of Catholic schools and two of them to Jesuit Universities. It was not easy. We incurred debt that took years to settle. But, in retrospect, we did the right thing.
Governor Andy Brashear of KY (a Presidential hopeful) vetoed a bill passed by his legislature in order to prevent KY from “opting-in” to this program. He did it to please the teachers’ union and used exactly the same false argument that Kelly did.
One thing that makes Catholic schools so expensive now is the absence of the teaching nuns who used to work almost for free. My parish is blessed to have some Nashville Dominicans on its school staff.
My bad.(I can’t spell, folks. They didn’t teach us phonics.) The governor’s name is Beshear and his veto was overridden so KY children will have the benefit but he stays in the good graces of the Teachers’ Union.
It’s a last name that can be spelled different ways, Miss Sandra. It can be confusing.
I wasn’t taught phonics either but when we homeschooled I learned that English doesn’t always follow the rules phonetically. “Look & See” reading can be helpful, too. I think we need to teach some of both.
Religious Sisters aren’t cheap anymore, either. But that’s no reason to have them. Having a Sister (even one) is an incalculable blessing.
Our parish had where they reviewed the household income and came up with a subsidy plan, including a signed document that they would attend mass. (Seems to be redundant since they already promised that at their child’s baptism). It worked pretty well but not perfectly.
Then the priest decided to go tuition model with continued parish support. Now very few altar servers and low family attendance on weekends. Parents tell the kids they don’t have to go on Sundays since the school mass is every Wedns. Of course, these parents are not attending weekends. Mass is missed for weekend sporting events.
The ultimate goal is to raise these children so they will attain heaven, through their membership in the one true church. I have no idea why the parish is supporting the school at the level they are – it’s like we’re being used to give their kids a better education without them or their parents being Catholic.
I benefitted greatly from my Catholic schools staffed by the Dominican nuns in grade school and the Irish Christian Brothers in High School and College. But the school in my present parish keeps secret its source of income and expenditures. It will say nothing about how the $100,000 parish loan will be paid. Too much of parish income goes to the Catholic school that teaches less than 10% of parish children. Too little is spent on the Catholic education of the Catholics in the public schools.